The male body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down

Then software updates. It’s already up to date, you say? Inconceivable, run them again

That makes me really sad. Our town dump has a pay-to-dispose system for electronics like that. It’s $15 to dump anything from laptops and monitors, to ancient hulking mainframes, industrial equipment, stage lighting, and all manner of other unwanted electronic things which doubtless spent time rotting in someone’s attic or basement before finally being considered as trash and hauled off for disposal. The disposal container has always had a “no scavenging” sign that I would ignore, and I’ve found some pretty sweet loot in there. Stuff like whole gaming PCs whose only problem is a single bad component, vintage analog turntables I’ve cleaned up and repaired, etc.

Recently, the shipping container in which these items are placed by their former owners was moved to a new spot under an existing security camera, and a sticker system was implemented. I’m starting to think they might be profiting on both ends from it (the disposal fee from residents and money from a recycler/salvage?) but I’m not quite sure. More likely they’re just overly worried about liability from someone doing something dumb or unexpected, and someone getting hurt, and/or simply maintaining the appearance of accountability. The camera only sees who and what is going in and out of the container though, not what happens inside there.

My latest strategy to defeat these measures has been to buy a sticker to gain access but bring two pieces of unwanted junk: one is the paid item - my “ticket”, so to speak - giving me the legitimacy of access to the shipping container, and another secret “replacement” item. I usually find some way to make these look like a single unit, which is easy, as what constitutes a single item is defined very loosely. As long as everything seems ok with that transaction, I drive over to the spot, back up to the shipping container entrance and open up the lift gate of my little hatchback, which partially blocks the camera’s view. Then I drop my legitimate “decoy” item, quickly try to find something good in there (I make sure it’s busy when I go, so there usually is) and then do a cheeky, sneaky sticker swap onto my secret item and whisk my quarry into the back of the car. If I don’t find something worth taking I just leave the whole bundle of both items as-is.

I assume they check and count stickers sold from the front office vs. actual items stickered at the end of each day or week, but they can’t feasibly keep track of what things are or who brought what. Any items you’ve brought can remain in your vehicle while you’re paying your dues at the fee station near the main entrance, and they don’t ever ask to check it if you seem halfway competent with their system and setup. I’m a known quantity (as far as they’re aware) so the most they ever do is glance at my vehicle and make sure it still has an unexpired sticker (these are issued by the town annually) which allows me to enter the facility in the first place. Then, after payment, you have to drive all the way across the facility to an area in the back, where the disposal container is. While you may encounter another worker there, it’s unlikely for them to connect the dots or even see the actual items at all until after you’ve left. Plus they’re perennially understaffed – usually just 2 or 3 overworked guys are handling everything that happens at a dump for a town of over 40,000. They’re usually doing something far more important than trying to bust petty rule breakers, like handling the mountain of human trash generated daily by all the wonderful consumer denizens of our middle-class suburb.

If there was an incident detected - signs of malfeasance or any other cause for concern - I assume it would be a reactive choice that cameras would be more closely scrutinized, your identifying details would be collected, and an investigation would ensue if deemed necessary. Otherwise, they simply don’t have the resources to track what’s what, and just kinda wing it with a process that seems tight at first glance, but is really still partially on an honor system. I also get the vibe they’re happy to be bringing any revenue at all for the town, and don’t necessarily care much unless flagrant violations occur or someone gets hurt or a suspicious pattern is noticed. Unless you’re really unlucky, simply the appearance of innocently following the established systems of dump bureaucracy and not being a jerk is enough to avoid arousing any suspicion at all.

It’s slightly unethical, objectively, according to some, sure, and I might get caught doing this eventually – but it’s hard to emphasize just how little I care about that. I’m willing to play dumb, act sorry, promise to behave in the future, take whatever minor slap on the wrist that follows, then eventually move onto whatever other weird game I end up playing with society next which tickles me in this specific way. It’s not like I’m selling any of this stuff; I fix it up and keep it for myself unless and until I find someone else who needs it more. You could call it a rationalization for petty theft concocted by an autistic mind, maybe that’s right, but in my estimation I’m not really doing any harm, since they end up with the same net number of items in the end, plus I bought a sticker with actual money, I’m disposing of items which are actually dead and useless, and I’m rescuing something else by extending its useful life. If the new thing I’ve acquired can’t be used or repurposed, and is indeed trash, that’s my new “ticket” for next time! Everything described above fits into quite nicely into my personal framework of morality, so fuck it. Plus it’s fun!

Not sure where you’re at, but the hospitals around here are pretty meticulous with sorting waste, especially segregating biowaste. I am near to Boston though, so they’re admittedly some of the best.

Does this make hospitals good for dumpster diving? I’m only half kidding, but really, how would you dispose of this stuff? Would you just donate something like that to something less immediately critical to life like a research or education facility?

This is the way. I honestly don’t care how the execs think about ai or if they use it themselves, but don’t force its usage on me. I’ve been touching computers since before some of them were born. For me it’s just one extra tool that gets pulled out in very specific scenarios and used for a very short amount of time.

It’s like the electric start on my snowblower - you don’t technically need it, and it won’t do the work for you, (so don’t expect it to) but at the right time it can be extremely nice to have.

its_the_same_picture.jpeg

You seem to be doing fine ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

TempleOS and Miley Cyrus Linux

What specifically is not user friendly? Not trying to antagonize, but specifics are good.

Thanks for the rundown. I don’t subscribe to either Marxism or Leninism full-cloth. Although I do have a real appreciation of the scientific approach of Marxist dialectical theory in particular, I’m more of an anarchist in nature. I sincerely appreciate the dialogue, though. While I’m here, I should note that it’s not just anti-communists who use the word “tankies” as a pejorative; we use it in our communities as well. I’ll let you figure that one out, though. Cheers

So all marxists are tankies? Marxism is incompatible with anti-authoritarianism?

Tankies are just authoritarians wearing a leftist outfit. It doesn’t matter what labels or symbols they claim, I wouldn’t consider them part of the left, and they shouldn’t be tolerated in leftist spaces either IMHO.

The committee know what they’re doing lol

how my fucking works and what it’s doing.

I think only you can answer that one, friend

Nah, fuck that.

I’d rather see Linux on the head unit, too.

Computer think, therefore… Computer

I’ve duckduckgone

I think you’re right on the money. There seems to be a component of enticing power users to stick with Windows as well. The app is still “in beta” despite the first release being in 1996 (!). I had to look that up, because I’d only heard about it in the early windows 10 days.

Yeah this pisses me off as well. And TVs now are much bigger and wider, too. Back in the day we’d split screen on whatever we had, which was more often than not an almost-square CRT with not much screen space to begin with!